Boot or shoe.



,No. 725,009. PATBNTBD'APR. 7, 1903.

J. E. RANDALL.

BOOT 0R SHOE.

APPLICATION nun JAN. a, 1902.

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PATENTED APR, 7, 1903.

J. E. RANDALL. BOOT 0R SHOE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 3, 1902.

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PA'TENTBD APR, 7, 1903.

J. E. RANDALL.

BOOT OR SHOE. APPLIUATION FILED JAN. 3, 1902.

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UNITED STATES JOHN E. RANDALL, OF MADDEN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO THEODORE S. VERY, TRUSTEE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

BOOT OR SHOE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 725,009, dated April '7, 1903.

Application filed January 3, 1902. Serial No. 88,816. (No model.)

T to whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN E. RANDALL, of Malden, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Boots or Shoes,

of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the manufacture of waterproof rubber boots and shoes; and it consists in the novel process of manufacture,

substantially as hereinafter described and claimed.

Of the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of the felt leg. Fig. 2 represents a section thereof on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 represents a plan of the covering-sheet of rubber tissue. Fig. 4 represents a sectional view illustrating the process of applying said sheet to the leg. Fig. 5 represents a side elevation of the felt leg with :0 rubber tissue applied. Fig. 6 represents a section thereof on line 6 6 of Fig. 5. Figs. 7 and 8 represent plan views of the felt footblank and its rubber-tissue covering, respectively. Fig. 9 represents a sectional view of 2 5 the two layers joined together. Fig. 10 represents a side elevation of the formed foot. Fig. 11 represents a side elevation of the leg and foot joined together. Figs. 12 and 13 represent plan views of the rag sole and rag count'er, respectively. Fig. 14; represents a side elevation of the bootwith said parts applied; Fig. 15 represents a plan of the inner-vamp lining. Fig. 16 represents a side elevation of the boot with the vamp-lining applied. Figs.

3 5 17 and 18 represent plan views of the counterform and rubber counter, respectively. Fig.

19 represents a plan of the vamp. Fig. 20

represents a side elevation of the completed boot.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the figures.

In the usual method of manufacture of rubber boots and shoes a lining of felt, woven, knitted, or other textile fabric is placed upon 5 the last in suitably-shaped sections which meet or overlap, said sections having been cut to pattern from a larger body of the lining material which has been given a skim coat of rubber in a calender, this coated side of the lining being placed on the outside when the lining is on the last, so as to give a rubher surface to which the outer layers can adhere. The skim coat is not waterproof. Subsequently the waterproofing layer, which is usually the outer layer of the boot or shoe, consisting of suitable sections of green or unvulcanized rubber tissue or rubber compound cut to pattern, is placed upon the lining already on the last and caused to adhere to the inner layers and conform to the "contour of the last by rolling or rubbing. In heavy footwear, such as boots, there are usually interposed between the lining and the outer layer suitable strips or sheets of friction-cl0th to give body and stiffness to the walls. The layers of the sole having been applied at a suitable stage, the boot or shoe is then vulcanized.

In the drawings 1 have selected for the purpose of illustrating my invention a waterproof 7o boot,the steps in the manufacture of which are as follows: 30 is a tube,which maybe of felt, as shown, or of woven or knitted fabric consti tuting the upper or leg portion of the boot and to which before the tube is placed on the 7 5 last and while it can be flattened, as shown in Fig. i, I apply a sheet or layer 31 of unvulcanized or green rubber tissue or rubber compound of suficient thickness to be permanently waterprooflsaid sheet being applied directly to the felt tube 30 without cement and united thereto by heavy pressure furnished between two surfaces, such as the platen 32 and roller 33. The apparatus should be such as togive simultaneous pressure over a large extent of surface and any other suitable device than the exact one herein shown may be employed to obtain the desired result. The sheet of green rubber is of sufficient plasticity or adhesiveness to cause the nap or surface fibers of the felt or other fabric to become slightly embeddedin the rubber by reason of the pressure, but not being in a Viscous or semifiuid condition similar to that of cement there is no substantial penetra- 5 tion of the rubber into the body of the fabric. When the boot is subsequently vulcanized, the permanent set then acquired by the rubber causes the surface fibers of the fabric to be so held as to secure a practically insepa- I00 I rable connection between the fabric and the rubber. The union of the rubber sheet 31 with the leg-tube may be accomplished in three stages around the leg. It is not essential to have a complete tube in the first instance, as the rubber may be applied to the liningin an openedout state and the united layers afterward formed into a tube. The foot part of the lining may be made from a single piece of felt 34 or other textile fabric, to which a sheet 35 of green or unvulcanized rubber tissue or compound of corresponding shape and size is applied by pressure, as described in connection with the layers 3031, while the said parts 34 35 are in a flat state. The united blanks 34 35 are then formed into aslipper with the felt on the inside, the blanks being shaped with complemental meeting edges 36 37 at front and back, which edges are preferably beveled and cemented and united by strips of adhesive tape 38 38. The completed slipper has the form represented in Fig. 10. Preferably before the back edges of the slipper are united the foot part of the boot-tree or last is inserted in the slipper and the tubular leg 30 31 is placed on the leg part of the tree. The complemental edges 39 40 of the leg and foot are then brought together and the joint covered by a strip of adhesive tape 41. The boot as thus formed and when subsequently vulcanized is perfectly waterproof without the addition of subsequent parts which I shall presently describe and which are added for the sake of giving body and stiffness to the boot and providing a suitable surface to withstand Wear and also to firmly unite the leg part of the boot to the foot part and prevent their being pulled apart. After the boot has reached the stage of Fig. 11 the rag sole 42 and rag counter 43 are applied by cementing them in place, after which is applied the inner-vamp lining 44, made of friction-cloth or other suitable material, then the inner-sole filler, (not shown,) and'then the counter-form 45, of the same material as the vamp-lining, and the counter 46, of rubber or other material suitable for a wearing-surface, the latter two being cemented together before being applied. The outer vamp 47, of rubber, knitted or woven fabric, or other material, is then put in place and the construction of the boot is completed by applying the outer-sole layers and the heel in the usual manner, these being shown in Fig. 20, 48 being the plain sole, 4.9 the tapsole, 50 a foxing, and 51 the heel. The whole boot is then vulcanized by heat in the ordinary manner.

The steps and materials succeeding the stage represented in Fig. ll may be variously modified as desired. The steps preceding and including this stage may also be subjected to modification without departing from the spirit of the invention. For instance, the rubber layer 31 may be extended to cover the whole of the leg portion of the lining. It is also unessential to make the foot portion of the lining and its rubber layer 35 each in a single piece or of the exact shape of a complete slipper. 7

It will be noted that my invention distinguishes from the old method of making rubber boots or shoes hereinbefore alluded to in the fact thatthe waterproofing layer is applied to the lining before the lining is lasted and while it is in a substantially flat state, as shown in Figs. 4 and 9, and also in the method of uniting the waterproofing layer'to the lining layer, which I believe to be new with me. Several ad vantages arise from this method of manufacture, among which are the fact that I dispense with the skim coat of rubber here tofore applied to the lining in a calender and with the waste of material incident to cutting out this rubber-coated lining to pattern, the valuable rubber in which cannot be recovered except by reclaiming it-that is,separating the rubber from the fabric by chemical process. In my process there are no waste pieces or strips of combined fabric and rubber requiring to be reclaimed to save the rubber, for by pursuing the method which I have de scribed of uniting the rubber to the fabric I can out both the rubber and the fabric to their proper pattern before uniting them. This process also provides for covering a part only of the lining with rubber, if desired, as illustrated by the parts 3031. It is not prac ticable nor economical to do this by the cal ender method, and if done by cementing the rubber to the lining the latter is madestiff and liable to crack and loses its porosity and evaporative qualities, owing to the permeation of the lining by the cement. It is evident that in those portions of my improved foot-coverin g which are protected by an outer wearing layer the cracking, puncturing, or Wearing through of this outer layer will not destroy the Waterproof quality of the footcovering,as it will in an ordinary rubber boot or shoe.

I am aware that it has heretofore been proposed to unite a previously-formed sheet of green rubber and a previously-formed sheet of fabric by continuously passing them togetherbetween rollers, thus securing a rubber coat on the fabric of greater thickness than that secured in a calender, and I do not claim such process as my invention.

I claim 1. The herein-described process of making a foot-covering which consists in taking a lining sheet or layer of fibrous fabric, and a sheet or layer of unvulcanized green rubber which has been previously cut to the desired pattern and is of a waterproof thickness, directly uniting the two by pressure while in an unlasted extended condition but avoiding substantial penetration of the rubber into the fabric, then forming the united layers into a foot-covering, and vulcanizing the rubber.

2. The herein-described process of making a boot which consists in separately producing leg and foot portions, each by taking a lining tions into a boot, uniting said portions by an IC) sheet or layer of fibrous fabric, and a sheet outside upper-shaped wearing 1ayer,and vulor layer of unvulcanized green rubber which canizing the rubber.

has been previously out to the desired pat- In testimony whereof I have affixed my sig- 5' tern and is of a waterproof thickness,direct1y nature in presence of two witnesses.

uniting the two by pressure while in an un- JOHN E. RANDALL.

lasted extended condition but avoiding sub- Witnesses:

stantial penetration of the rubber into the R. M. PIERSON,

fabric, then forming said leg and foot por- P. W. PEZZETTI. 

